FAA to expand airline first-officer qualifications

Co-pilots will be required to fly at least same amount of hours as airline captains

WASHINGTON — The amount and type of flying experience first officers — also known as co-pilots — must have to qualify to fly for an airline will be significantly increased under new regulations announced Wednesday by the Federal Aviation Administration.

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By The Associated Press

MailTribune.com

By The Associated Press

Posted Jul. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By The Associated Press

Posted Jul. 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

WASHINGTON — The amount and type of flying experience first officers — also known as co-pilots — must have to qualify to fly for an airline will be significantly increased under new regulations announced Wednesday by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The regulations require first officers to have at least 1,500 hours of flying experience. Airline captains already are required to have at least 1,500 hours. Previously, first officers were only required to have 250 hours of flight time.

The rule also requires first officers to have an aircraft-type rating, which involves additional training and testing specific to the type of airplane they fly.

"The rule gives first officers a stronger foundation of aeronautical knowledge and experience before they fly for an air carrier," FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said.

The new regulations are required under a sweeping aviation safety law enacted in 2010 in response to the crash of a regional airliner near Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 50 people. The crash was blamed on pilot error.

The regulations are a victory for the family members of victims of that crash, who dedicated countless hours over the past four-and-a-half years, first to lobby Congress for passage of the law and later to push the Obama administration to carry through with the regulations despite industry opposition.

The law required the FAA to implement a series of safety regulations. Changes to the first-officer qualifications, which had remained unaltered for many years, are considered among the most important. Two years ago, the FAA adopted regulations also required under the safety law that set new policies governing airline pilot work schedules aimed at preventing dangerous errors made by tired or overworked pilots.

The question of pilot experience is one of the issues raised in the investigation of the crash-landing of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in San Francisco on Saturday. The Asiana pilot flying the plane, Lee Gang-guk, had nearly 10,000 hours of flying experience, but was transitioning to a new type of plane. He had recently received his type rating and was about halfway through his post-rating, real-world training.

Two of the 307 people aboard the plane were killed and scores of others injured.

The Asiana accident shares some similarities with the Buffalo crash. Like the Asiana pilot, the pilot of Colgan Air Flight 3407 also had relatively little experience in the type of plane he was flying.

The Colgan Air pilots also weren't paying close attention to airspeed, allowing the regional airliner to slow dangerously. That triggered a warning that the plane was losing lift and about to stall. The Asiana plane also slowed dangerously, triggering the same type of warning and raising questions about whether the pilots were monitoring the airspeed.